Tatted Cowboy (4 page)

Mr Baker surprises me by answering.

“The previous owners sold to us because they had to move to Queensland.  The husband is in the army and for a couple of years he was based in Darwin. But, two years ago, he was moved to a base not far from Brisbane, so they moved there.  As you can imagine, they were sad to see the place go.”

“I bet.”

Mr Baker shows us through the remainder of the house and when it is all completed I am even more in love with the house than ever.

Gran has made her way outside and she is pottering around the garden shed.  I smile as I watch her through the large window. 

“So, what do you think?” Mr Baker asks from behind me, his tone hopeful.

I turn and look at him.  “Honestly, I’m in love.  I love everything about this house.  We’ve been here thirty minutes and I can’t remember the last time I felt this content.  It’s like it wraps you up inside the walls and cocoons you,” I gush.

“But?” he sighs.

“But, I can’t imagine how I could ever afford a house like this,” I say honestly, my heart feeling deflated.

“Can I be frank with you, Miss Carlisle?”

“Of course.”

“My wife and I simply can’t afford to keep this place.  We bought it, along with the shop, in the hopes of providing our children with a stable future.  Unfortunately, things didn’t go the way we planned so we had to close the business.  We also managed to raise a lazy shit of a son, who would rather sit on his arse all day long playing video games on the television than going out to work.  My wife and I had hoped the business and this house would provide some incentive for him, but alas, that failed as well.  With that being said, I can assure you we are open to all reasonable offers.”

When he finishes speaking, I blurt out an offer without even thinking.

Without missing a beat he gives me a counter offer and we finally settle on a price in the middle.

My heart thuds in my chest as I shake his hand.

“I’ll get the contracts drawn up and we’ll go from there.”

“Thank you so much,” I reply.  I think I’m still in shock.

Gran walks back in as we’re finishing up.  She looks at me with a knowing smile and continues walking through the house until she disappears out of sight.

I find her on the love seat.  Mr Baker locks the front door and we say our goodbyes.  Once we’re back in the car, Gran speaks.  “So, you made an offer?”

“I did,” I breathe.  “Holy shit. I made an offer, and he accepted.  I didn’t even consider a building inspection or anything. Oh my god, I’m so stupid.”

“Bull crap,” Gran surprises me by cutting in.  “You’re not stupid.  You went with your gut.  It will all work out.  First thing tomorrow, you get all that sorted.  As for now, just enjoy it.”

I take a deep breath and decide to listen to Gran’s advice.  She’s never steered me wrong.

Smoothing my hands over my jeans, I take another look at myself in the small dresser-top mirror.

My long blonde hair is pulled up in a simple ponytail and my makeup is minimal – just a light application of bronzer, a sweep of mascara and a coating of light pink lip gloss.  Continuing with my theme, my jewellery is understated as well.  A dainty gold bracelet adorns my right wrist and a pair of small diamond studs sits upon my ears.

Not too shabby at all.

I grab my purse, phone and keys and give Gran a kiss goodbye.

“Have fun,” she calls out as I close the door behind me.

Tonight, I’m meeting up with Ava and her friends for a drink at the Pine Creek pub, The Cow and Calf.

It’s been a week since I met with Mr Baker.  The day after, as planned, I had a building inspector come out and assess both premises.  He couldn’t find any issues and believes I got a great deal. 

Things moved quickly after that.  Mr Baker organized with his lawyer to have the contracts drawn up immediately.  I signed them this morning.  There’s a cooling off period of two weeks and after that, I’m free to move in.  Because both properties are vacant, we’ve both agreed to a quick change over. 

I can’t believe things have moved so fast.  But, as fast as it is, it just feels so
right.

I pull up out the front of The Cow and Calf and reverse back into the space.

Walking in, I look around.  Ava had sent me a text just before saying she was already here, so I know she’s waiting.

The Cow and Calf hotel is the only pub at Pine Creek and it’s a popular watering hole among the locals and out-of-towners.  This is evident in the amount of customers sitting around the bar.  Most of them are young, but there are a few older ones here as well.  I scan the room and not finding Ava, I continue walking through, giving smiles and greetings of
hi
as I pass the friendly locals.

Sadly, I don’t recognize any of the faces from the nine years I spent here as a child.  The thought makes me feel a little melancholy, to be honest.  I wish I could remember at least one person, so I could sit down and have a chat, catch up.

I see Ava as soon as I walk out into the courtyard area.  She’s sitting with two other females and an older man who I recognize immediately.  A bright smile stretches across my face and I quicken my step.

“Well, lookie here,” Skip says when he glances up and his eyes catch mine.  He grins broadly.

“Skip!”  He stands and pulls me into a tight hug. 

“You’re a sight for sore eyes, Little Lo,” he says, pulling back and looking me over.  He’s called me Little Lo for as long as I can remember, because when I was younger, I couldn’t pronounce Laura properly.  It came out sounding kind of like
Lo-uh
.  Skip just shortened it and added the ‘little’ part because of my size.

He hasn’t changed a bit, except for gaining a little weight around the middle.  He’s still got the same warmth and kindness in his eyes, and he’s still got the friendly grin that draws you in.

“How have you been?  How are Rhonda and the rest of the family?”

“Everyone’s well. Fighting fit.  What about you? Word around town is, you’re back?”

“I am,” I nod. 

“Glad to hear it.  Well, I’ll let you girls get on with your night.  Be good.”  With a low wave he walks back inside to the bar.

“Hi,” I finally greet the rest of the table.

Ava stands to give me a quick hug before she introduces me to everyone.

“Girls, this is Laura.  Laura, Edie and Jules.”

“Hi, how are you?” I ask with a friendly smile.

“Good, thanks.  How are you?  Are you settling in okay?” Edie asks.  She’s really pretty.  Long brown hair and peachy skin.  She’s gorgeous and the country air seems to really agree with her.  I remember Ava telling me her and Jules both hailed from Sydney.

“Yeah, I am. I love being back.  Everything is finally falling into place for once, which is great news,” I answer, biting my lip when I realize I probably over shared for such a simple question.

“I’m glad.  There’s just something about Pine Creek,” she muses and I can’t help but wonder what her story is.

“God, I so needed this night,” Jules sighs.  The waiter brings over a plate of wedges with sweet-chilli sauce and sour cream.  “Dig in, Laura,” Jules encourages.  “So good,” she speaks around a mouthful of food.

I can’t help but smile.

Jules can only be described as stunning.  She’s tall, slim and has legs for days.  Her face is absolutely gorgeous and her bone structure is why jealousy was invented.  But, as the night wears on, the best thing I have found about her is that she is just an everyday girl.  She’s very real, very funny and both her and Edie are genuine souls.  I can see why Ava likes them both so much.

“So, Ava was telling us before you arrived that you guys are childhood friends?” Edie asks, before taking a sip of her drink.

I finish chewing, swallow and then answer.  “Yeah,” I nod.  “I lived the first nine years of my life here.  Then, the drought hit and we had to move to Mount Isa for my dad to work.”

“That would have been difficult.  Did you two keep in contact over the years?”  She tilts her head to the side slightly.  She’s not just asking to make conversation; she’s clearly interested in my answer and for that reason alone I decide I really like Edie.  She is not fake.  She is not asking a question for the sake of it.  She actually gives a shit about the answer.  It is refreshing! 

Her brown hair is pulled loosely back and she is dressed casually in the country uniform of jeans that she’s teamed with a hot pink button-up shirt.  Where Jules is model-beautiful, Edie is more classically-beautiful; the girl-next-door.  The kind of beauty that is understated, but no less gorgeous than the other variety.

“In the beginning.  We wrote letters weekly,” I smile fondly and Ava nods and laughs. 

“That’s right! We did, too. I completely forgot about that.”

“Yeah, but then I guess life got in the way and we lost touch.  My family visited my Gran a few times over the years and Ava and I would always start back up writing again for a few months after my visit, but it never really stuck and before I knew it, fifteen years had passed,” I grimace.

“Time flies, doesn’t it.  It doesn’t stop or slow down for anyone,” Jules chimes in.

We all make sounds of agreement and tuck into the food.

By the end of the night, I have found out that Jules and Clay Forde have a son named Banjo, and Edie and Jackson Henley have a daughter named Olive.  Ava is a step-mum to Oscar, (Jeremy’s son from a previous relationship) and they are yet to have children of their own, but Ava considers Oscar hers anyway.  They all pull photos of their families up on their phones to show me.  I try my hardest to keep the smile on my face, but it is an effort and in the end I say I have to get an early night because I have a big day tomorrow.  That is not a total lie. 

The truth is, I am missing Gus more than ever.  I wish I could have pulled up the photos of him and showed him off.

But, they would have asked questions.

Questions I wasn’t strong enough to answer just yet and that made me even sadder.

I give each of the girls a hug in turn, and do my best to reassure their concerned faces.  Finally, they relent and I wave a final goodbye as I make my way out to my car.

My head is down as I walk through the back hallway, intent on avoiding the rowdy bar area.  As I round the corner, I hear a distinct wailing sound.

The kind you only hear on bad pornos.

My head comes up involuntarily to check visually, just in case I am wrong and it is actually someone being hurt. 

I am not wrong.

Pushed up against the wall is a female. I can only see her legs because her hair is all over her face.  Her legs are around the hips of the man who is fucking her hard.  His pants are around his knees and all of his disgustingly hairy arse is on display.

“Oh god,” I cry out, spinning around at the same time as my hand flies up to cover my eyes.  “So gross.”  I resist the urge to gag.  I walk blindly a few steps until I accidently slam into a wall.

“Fuck my life.”

The wall starts to shake.  I feel my brow pull together.

The wails are still filling my ears, but I am pretty sure I can no longer
see
them. I bring my hand down and then gasp while jumping backwards.

“Shit!  I’m so sorry,” I apologise profusely and all the while I can feel my face turning ten shades of red. 
How mortifying.

The man in front of me doesn’t seem to care that I just blindly ran into him.  He is standing there, looking down at me, a smile on his face as his chest moves up and down with his silent laughter.

“I’m guessing you saw something you didn’t want to see?”  He finally speaks and my breath catches.

Deep and raspy with a hint of that country twang I love.

I clear my throat slightly before answer.  “Uh, yes.  I think that image is burned into my retinas.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be having nightmares for years to come and I’ll have to pay a fortune on therapy in an attempt to erase it from my mind.”

I bite my lip so I’ll shut up.

His chest shakes harder and his smile gets broader.

Wow!  He’s stunning.

He’s a lot taller than my five foot five.  I would put him at around six foot one.  And he is broad.  He is so wide across the chest that his black shirt is straining to stretch across him, effectively displaying every contoured muscle of his stomach and abdomen.

His arms are covered in a mixture of coloured and solid black tattoos.  I follow the ink from his wrists up to where it disappears under the sleeve of his shirt, wondering just how much of his glorious body is tatted. 

Finally, my eyes travel up over his strong, square, thickly stubbled jaw to meet his deep blue gaze.

His eyes are smiling and
damn
it looks good on him.

Reaching out, he rests his thumb on my bottom lip and pushes down gently so it releases from my teeth.  My skin buzzes at the contact.

“Don’t bite your lip,” he almost whispers, the laughter gone from his eyes.

“‘Kay,” I breathe.

“See ya ‘round,” he rumbles.  His blue depths feel like they pierce my soul as he takes one more long look at me.  Then, he steps around me and walks away.

As I woodenly turn to catch the rear view of him, I belatedly notice the wailing has stopped. 
Thank god!

As he rounds the corner, he turns, catches me gawking and throws me a wink.  Then, he’s gone.

I take a minute to catch my breath.  The man has left me feeling like I ran a marathon.  My body is all hot and my heart is thumping out of my chest.  I look down, convinced I will see it pounding against my shirt, but all I see is the rise and fall from my breathing.

The cool night air is refreshing against my heated skin when I finally step outside and walk over to my car.

Instead of going straight back to Gran’s, I find myself driving to the house I just purchased.  I pull my car to a stop out the front and get lost in my thoughts as I stare at what will be my new home.

I wish Gus were here to see it.  I can just imagine him running through the gardens playing cowboys and Indians with his imaginary friends.  Or, maybe the neighbours have kids and he would be playing with them.

He’d be almost five now.  Next year he would have been starting school.  Most days I try to remember the good times, but sometimes it is easy to get lost in the thoughts of what I do not have. What I will never have.

I wonder if his blond hair would have gotten lighter as he grew, if he would like it longer and shaggy or cropped short.  Maybe he would not have cared at all.

I think he would have taken after his father and been a little taller than average – he was a long baby when he was born; fifty-two centimetres. 

My lips curve into a smile as I remember his gorgeous little dimpled grin as he smiled cheekily at me when he was doing something he knew he shouldn’t have been doing.

God, I miss him.

My thoughts drift from Gus and settle on the man from The Cow and Calf.

Who is he?  Is he a local?  Or, maybe he is just someone passing through and I will never see him again…  The thought makes my heart pang.

His eyes, wow, they were gorgeous.  So deep.  So soulful.  He had that look about him, like he could see right through me.  It scares me and excites me all at the same time.

Half of me wants to see him again, but the other half hopes I never do.

He reminds me of everything I wanted…everything I had.  Everything I will never have again.